Review: Sony Xperia Tipo

The cheapest Xperia comes with its share of problems. But it definitely has some spunk

The cheapest Xperia comes with its share of problems. But it definitely has some spunk

It's been raining Xperias almost ever since Sony Mobile dropped the Ericsson suffix and went solo earlier this year. Sony had covered almost all bases except the lucrative, yet fiercely competitive, sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone segment. Samsung's Galaxy Y and the HTC’s Explorer are already slugging it out in that segment, along with Micromax and Karbon for company. And this is why the Tipo, priced at Rs 9,999 for the single-sim variant and Rs 10,449 for the dual-SIM variant, assumes serious significance for Sony in a category where Indian consumers want more for less.

We were impressed with the form factor of most of the Xperia 2012 line, and the Tipo does not disappoint. It's easily one of the better looking phones and the smooth rubberised back cover and clean lines make this phone more than nice to hold. The Tipo also seeks inspiration from Sony's “Walkman” brand. It's a clever move to make the Walkman connection given that music is one of the key drivers for phones within this price band. The Tipo has great sound quality both via the headphones and on speaker mode too, while the Sony custom Music UI is pure eye candy.

The Tipo features a 3.2-inch (320 x 480 pixels) scratch-resistant screen and also comes with a free scratch guard in the box. We were not impressed with the responsiveness of the touch screen, and browsing the web isn’t as fun an experience as you’d want it to be. The device is powered by a 800 MHz Snapdragon processor which is not the best-in-class, but manages to power the phone fairly effortlessly. Sony's mobile cameras have been one of their biggest strengths – the 3.2 MP camera on the Tipo shoots decent images in daylight, but struggles in low-light conditions without an LED Flash. It’s a puzzling decision given the number of "candid camera" pictures that get uploaded on Facebook from nightclubs and malls all over the country.

If you store all your music and pictures on your phone, the Tipo might still not run out of space. There’s 2.5 GB onboard memory, plus a micro SD support for upto 32 GB, and a very generous 50 GB of free cloud storage via Box just in case. The Tipo's 1,500 mAh battery does admirably and should work for most users. The device comes pre-loaded with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) that gives the Tipo a significant edge over other devices in this segment that still run on Gingerbread.

The Tipo has certainly added an element of oomph that was largely missing in the bottom rung of the smartphone ladder. The camera and touch screen might weigh the device down slightly, but Sony will hope that the Tipo's good looks inherited from the Xperia genes and all the value-adds will give the device enough bite to swim with the sharks.